Did you grow up with a religious background? Then congrats, you likely experienced sexual shame! Perhaps you still do to this day.
The truth is, it's deeply confusing to grow up having completely natural sexual urges, but be told you're bad or wrong for having them. In the words of the panelists:
- "For a long time I thought, 'What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I get over this?'"
- "I was taught, 'Don’t touch, don’t look, don’t think, don’t act.'"
- "As a teenager I thought, 'I’m going to go to hell and there’s no way to get around it.'"
Here, a panel of four men, three of whom grew up in the Church of Latter-day Saints (LDS, aka the Mormon Church), and one who grew up Catholic/Christian, discuss their journey from religious programming to a more full, rich, and healthy sexual expression in the world.
But it doesn't stop with healthy sex. Because one of the effects of feeling blocked, ashamed, or perverted for having natural sexual desires is that you tend to have a lot of trouble relating with those with whom you want to have sex.
This begs the questions: What is healthy sex and sexuality? What is healthy connection? According to one married man, "It took us 32 years of our marriage to be able to unravel and untwist this trauma."
Religious deconstruction from LDS and other religions is real, and it's doable. You can overcome sexual shame, religious indoctrination, and more.
If you want to go from being afraid to connect with women to having the healthiest relationship of your life, listen on.
If you're looking for inspiration, hope, and dare I say an experience of transcendence, listen on.
Work with us
Want to go deeper than the podcast? Jason and I are ready to work with you! We specialize in helping men break old patterns and transform their sex & love lives for good. (We've worked with a lot of men who grew up LDS or with other religious backgrounds, so if that's you, we're here.)
To see if there's a fit for our flagship program Pillars of Presence, book a call here. Start anytime. (https://evolutionary.men/apply/)
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Memorable quotes from this episode:
- "As a child, we were taught that sex-related sins were worse than murder."
- "I grew up with a daily sense of guilt and shame, and, 'I’m so dirty or gross, why would they want me?'"
- “I felt like God set me up to fail.”
- "The sexual experiences I’ve had since my divorce have been unbelievably healing for me."
- “The more we talk about it, we expand ourselves and it does something in our own nervous system.”
- “Now I can find some freedom in it. It’s OK to have sexual needs.”
- "I’m horny as hell and excited to have a fun Friday night!"